A. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to:

1. Any person, partnership, association, corporation, entity, or their regular employees, who as owner or lessor perform any of the acts enumerated in §§ 54.1-2100 and 54.1-2101 with reference to property owned or leased by them, where the acts are performed in the regular course of or incident to the management of the property and the investment therein. For property governed by Chapter 21 (§ 55-360 et seq.) of Title 55, the term "owner" for purposes of this subdivision shall include affiliated entities, provided that (i) the owner has a controlling interest in the affiliated entity or (ii) the affiliated entity and the owner have a common parent company;

2. Any person acting without compensation as attorney-in-fact under a power of attorney issued by a property owner solely for the purpose of authorizing the final performance required of such owner under a contract for the sale, lease, purchase, or exchange of real estate;

3. Service rendered by an attorney-at-law in the performance of his duties as such;

4. A person acting as a receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, administrator or executor, or any person selling real estate under order of any court;

5. A trustee acting under a trust agreement, deed of trust, or will, or the regular salaried employees thereof;

6. Any corporation managing rental housing when the officers, directors, and members in the ownership corporation and the management corporation are the same and the management corporation manages no other property for other persons, partnerships, associations, or corporations;

7. Any existing tenant of a residential dwelling unit who refers a prospective tenant to the owner of the unit or to the owner's duly authorized agent or employee and for the referral receives, or is offered, a referral fee from the owner, agent or employee;

8. Any auctioneer licensed in accordance with Chapter 6 (§ 54.1-600 et seq.) of this title selling real estate at public auction when employed for such purpose by the owner of the real estate and provided the bidding at such auction is held open for no longer than forty-eight hours. An auctioneer shall not advertise that he is authorized to sell real estate. An auctioneer may advertise for sale at public auction any real estate when employed to do so as herein provided, and may advertise that he is authorized to auction real estate at public auction;

9. [Expired.]

10. Any person who is licensed and is in good standing as a real estate broker or salesperson in another state, and who assists a prospective purchaser, tenant, optionee, or licensee located in another state to purchase, lease, option, or license an interest in commercial real estate, as defined in § 55-526, in the Commonwealth. Such real estate licensee from another state may be compensated by a real estate broker in the Commonwealth. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to permit any person not licensed and in good standing as a real estate broker or salesperson in the Commonwealth to otherwise act as a real estate broker or salesperson under this chapter.

B. The provisions of this chapter shall not prohibit the selling of real estate (i) by an attorney-at-law in the performance of his duties as such, (ii) by a receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, administrator or executor, a special commissioner or any person selling real estate under order of court, or (iii) by a trustee acting under the trust agreement, deed of trust or will, or the regular salaried employees thereof.

C. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any salaried person employed by a licensed real estate broker for and on behalf of the owner of any real estate or the improvements thereon which the licensed broker has contracted to manage for the owner if the actions of such salaried employee are limited to (i) exhibiting residential units on such real estate to prospective tenants, if the employee is employed on the premises of such real estate; (ii) providing prospective tenants with factual information about the lease of residential real estate; (iii) accepting applications for lease of such real estate; and (iv) accepting security deposits and rentals for such real estate. Such deposits and rentals shall be made payable to the owner or the broker employed by such owner. The salaried employee shall not negotiate the amounts of such security deposits or rentals and shall not negotiate any leases on behalf of such owner or broker.

D. A licensee of the Board shall comply with the Board's regulations, notwithstanding the fact that the licensee would be otherwise exempt from licensure under subsection A. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require a person to be licensed in accordance with this chapter if he would be otherwise exempt from such licensure.

E. An attorney-at-law referring a client to a licensee shall not be entitled to receive any compensation from a listing firm or offered by a common source information company to cooperating brokers, unless the attorney is also licensed under this chapter as a real estate broker or salesperson.

Code 1950, § 54-734; 1972, c. 324; 1973, cc. 487, 527; 1975, c. 238; 1980, c. 127; 1982, cc. 633, 682; 1988, c. 765; 1992, c. 84; 1993, cc. 816, 899; 1995, c. 227; 1998, cc. 261, 262; 2009, cc. 88, 262; 2015, cc. 24, 272.